Guard system for tractor-trailer combinations



May 28, 1935. H, H, ROBINSON 2,002,832

GUARD SYSTEM FOR TRACTOR TRAILER COMBINATIONS Filed May 22, 1933 W 9L MATTORNEYS.

Patented May 28, 1935 L u V A UNITED STATES] PATENT OFFICE J v[132,902,832 j V I V GUARD sYs'rE M ifon TRACTOR-TRAILER COMBINATIONS Vl Harold H. Robinson, Opalocka, Fla, 'ass ignor to CurtissAerocarCompany, Inc., Opalocka, F1a., n g ee n lf r appucaeosnayfzz, isaaseri lNo. 672,133"

" 1 Claim; (o1.29s 5 5) This invention relates to a guard railorbumper.located in the place of the usual rumble seat. system for protectingsemi-trailers and their tow This connection need not be described indetail, oars against injury. This combination of vehicles the two carshaving pivotal connection around has presented problems in' securingprotection a vertical axis at substantially-the point 53, and

against side collisions which could not be solved the forward end of thesemi-trai1er having'a 5 by'resorting to bumpers of usual design Onewedge-shaped nose M to support this pivot. pointof dimculty has been thevarying angular Around the sides and rear of the semi-trailer relativepositions assumed by theconnected vehiis a guard rail or bumper l5;secured in place cle's when turninga corner. .With the bumper as bystuds or rivets i6 and spacing collars ll.

systems previouslyused at least one of the vehi- At its forward endsthis guard rail has projecl0 cles was unprotectedwhen in'th-is position;tions 18 formed upon comparatively wide curves, It is one object of thepresent invention to andis fastened to the forward end of thesemiprovide a bumperior'guardrail-system for semitrailer by bolts orrivets i9. All of the connectrailers and tow cars which will furnishadequate tions I 6 and I9 may be made to the mainframe 15. protectionfor bothvehiclesxat their junction no sill of the semi-trailer so thatthe guard rail will matter what angular positions the vehicles may haveasolid support. The guardrail preferassume. Another object is to protectthe Vehicles ably continuous except at the rear wheels I0, at the regionof their junction in such a manner where its permanent presence would beundesirthat hooking or locking of the bumpers of a, able because ofinterference with the removal colliding vehicle with either the tow caror the of the wheels or tires. At these points the guard 20 semi-trailerwill be prevented. Another object is rail is pre bly interrup y Swingingto provide a guard rail or bumper system which removable section 20, theends of which are prefwill present the appearance, when viewed from blyf m d as forked ey s 2! s- 4 d the side, of a continuous band joiningand at Between the branches of these eyes a narrower least partiallysurrounding both vehicles. Aneye 22 on the end of each adjacent guardrail 25 other object is to provide completely or partially System isadapted to fit, the two being joined toremovable guard sections at thewheels of the gether by a pin 23. By removing these pins the vehicles sothat wheels or tires may be changed uard ra l Section 28 may be removedentirelywithout any interference from the guard rail If it is desired toshift the section only partially 30 system. Additional objects-willappear from the out of the way one only of the pins may be re- 30following description and claim. moved, and the section swung to aposition such Referring to the drawing: as shown in 20 in Fig. 1. Thepins l3 mayhave Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a semi-trailer and holes 24formed in them for the reception of the its attached tow car,illustrating one arrangeusual cotter pins 25 or other fastening device.ment of guard rails and bumpers in accordance For supporting the guardrail or bumper at 35 with this invention; the rear ofthe tow car asuitable bracket may Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; 1 be used-Since these a s me equipped with Fig. 3 is a detail corresponding to aportion of rear bumpers, however, provision has been made Fig. 1 butshowing the tow car'in a different r employing these bumpers as a pp tfor 40 ang flar position; the rear guard rail carried by the tow car for00- 40 Fig. 4 is a detail, on an enlarged scale, showing operation withthe guard rail system of the semithe arrangement of the guard railsections at one trailer. In this case a guard rail 30 is welded to ofthe wheels; f the normal tow car bumper 3| adjacent'its ends. Fig. 5 isa perspective detail of one of the joints The guard rail 30 is curvedupon an arc substanshown in Fig. 4,,with a connecting pin partiallytially concentric with the common axis of rota- 45 removed; and v tionof the tow car and semi-trailer, so that as Fig. 6 is a perspectivedetail of the hinge ar- .the cars change their angular positions asubrangement of guard rails for wheels of the tow stantially uniformdistance is'kept between the can guard rail 38 at the exposed side ofthe tow The towed ehicle is in the drawing shown as car and the adjacentfOlWflId extension '18 Of the 50 of the semi-trailer type, having rearwheels l0 guard rail l5. This effect is clearly ated in but no frontwheels, and is indicated generically Fig.3. It will be noticed that evenin this norat II. Thetow car is shown at, l2, being'usually mallyvulnerable angular position of the vehicles a passengercar ofthe couptype with a de-' a substantially continuous guard rail system istachable pivotal connection for the semi-trailer maintained, and that nooutstanding parts of 55 cars.

though the cars are positioned at an angle as similar to that used forthe guard rail section 20 is preferably employed. The two removableguard rail sections 33 of the tow car are each formed on their forwardends with spaced eyes 34 between which extends an eye on'a bracket 36mounted on the tow car frame. A pin 31 extending through the alignedeyes vmakes the section 33 swingable or removable at this point.

At its opposite end the section 33 is formed, as

shown, With a double eye or clevis 38 mating with an eye 39 formed onthe end of the bumper 3!, or alternatively on the end of the guard rail30. A pin it passes through the eyes 38 and 39 when aligned so as tohold the structure assembled. Both the pins 37 and 40 may be providedwith holes M for the reception of cotter pins if desired.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that a guard rail systemextending completely around the semi-trailer and the rear end of the towcar is provided, this guard rail system acting and appearing as a singleunit although in fact formed in separate divisions on the two Thisapparent unity will persist even in Fig. 3. The joint between thesemi-trailer the guard rails are left upon which the bumpers and the towcar is particularly well guarded, irrespective of the angular positionof the vehicles. Furthermore, a continuous guard rail system is providedwhich will permit ready access to the wheels of the semi-trailer and tothe guarded rear wheels of the tow car when this is necessary. It willbeunderstood that the broader outlines of the invention have beenpointed out above, supplemented by a description of its details in apreferred form, and that the invention is not therefore confined tothese specific details except as pointed out in the following.

claim.

What I claim is:

A guard rail system for a semi-trailer and its associated tow car,comprising a guard rail extending around the rear and sides of thesemitrailer and bowed inwardly at the forward end thereof, a guard railextending around the rear end of the tow car and formed between thebowed portions of the first guard rail upon an arc having a center ofcurvature approximately at the pivot center of the tow car and semitrailer and serving to protect the rear end of the tow car in allangular positions relative to the semitrailer, said two main guard railsbeing interrupted adjacent the wheels of the semi-trailer and the rearwheels of the tow car, guard rail sections bridging the interruptedportions of the main guard rails, the main guard rails at the points ofinterruption and the ends of the guard rail sections being formed withcooperating eyes,

and pins releasably holding said eyes in align-.

ment.

HAROLD I-I. ROBINSON.

